Giro riders climb UCI Worldtour ranking

Giro d’Italia winner Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank) has moved up to second place behind leader Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) in the Union Cycliste Internationale’s latest Worldtour ranking, published on Monday (May 30).

Gilbert maintains his position at the top of the ranking with 356 points, seven points ahead of Contador, after winning Amstel Gold, Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege in the spring.

Giro runner-up Michele Scarponi (Lampre-ISD) moves into third spot behind Contador in the ranking, with 2010 World Ranking winner Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) moving up to sixth and seventh respectively in the table.

British sprinter Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) makes his debut in the 2011 ranking after winning two stages and placing second on one stage during the Giro – his 40 points put him in 58th place.

David Millar (Garmin-Cervelo) also netted himself extra points after coming second on one stage and winning the final time trial stage of the Giro. The Scot is now in 66th spot.

Ben Swift (Sky) is still Britain’s highest-placed rider in the ranking in 28th spot after winning two stages and placing third overall in the Tour Down Under in January. Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Geraint Thomas (Sky) are the other two riders to contribute points for Great Britain.

After a strong showing at the Giro, Spain is now top nation in the ranking-by-country with Italy in second spot. Great Britain stays in 10th spot. HTC-Highroad keeps its place at the top of the ranking-by-team, with Saxo Bank-Sungard rocketing up to second from 10th place.

The UCI’s world ranking is compiled using a points system, with points awarded for one-day race, tour stage and stage race overall finishing positions for events in the UCI’s Worldtour.

The amount of points awarded depends on the ranking of the event. For example, winning the Tour de France overall gives a rider twice as many points as winning the Eneco Tour overall.

The next counting event in the UCI Worldtour will be the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré from June 5-12 2011.